Hot Dog Hell
by ManicPixi
Summary: Kanoko is left babysitting Hatsya, and has her tolerance tested.


"No! No! No!"

Hatsya's panicked cries were loud enough to be heard through the furthest reaches of Gaia's solar system, but the one who was most bothered by them was the little star's first and only human friend, a girl named Kanoko.

The tired brunette made an exasperated and exaggerated gesture with her arms before throwing a stare to the pewter-haired spoiled princess. She had taken up Saiph's offer to watch Hatsya for a while, so that the elder sibling could be present at a dreaded formal gathering that was thrown just to find him a life partner. And, after much amusement and a bit of mocking on Kanoko's part, only further complicating Saiph's problems by telling him that she couldn't imagine him settling down with anyone and making his parents happy with grandkids, she had agreed to take Hatsya in for the duration of the event. What she hadn't been prepared for was the little star, like most children, to be an extremely picky eater.

"I don't want that!" Hatsya shrieked, her voice raising an octave, both hands planted firmly on her hips as her nose turned up in the air.

"Do you even know what it is?" Kanoko huffed, tapping her foot before she made a gesture to the object in question. An opened jar of relish occupied the kitchen counter, right next to a hot and plump hot dog that was resting snugly inside a warm and soft white bun. An interested stare settled in her eyes while she waited for the younger girl to come up with an answer.

Angry, turquoise pools shifted from the brunette and landed on the lumpy green food that Kanko was about to put on her hot dog. It smelled foul. It smelled sour, and it looked like something scooped right out of a baby's diaper, she concluded, as her lip poked out. "No." she answered at long last, her head turning back to her friend. "But it smells gross and I'm not eating it it!" she stater, refusing to back down.

"Oh come on." Kanoko pushed back. "Have you ever tried it?" she asked, dipping the silver spoon into the jar. Surely, it wasn't too much to ask to have the girl taste the food before she turned her nose up at it! If Kanoko didn't know better, she'd say Hatsya was a finicky little cat, instead of a dragon. "Just give it a little taste." she urged, already lining Hatsya's hot dog with a little bit of it.

"NO!" A louder shriek this time. "Take it off!"

"But-" Kanoko began, barely getting a word in before being interrupted by the child.

"Take it OFF NOW!" Not wasting a second, the grey-haired girl bent down and scooped up her companion, Twinkle, right off his hooves, and aimed the goat at the food that was being prepared. Clearly, she had every intention of letting the animal burp up a black hole to consume the disgusting condiment.

Shoulders drooping, eyes rolling to the sky, Kanoko found herself giving in to Hatsya's demands. As she took the bit of relish off of the hot dog, she could only hope to any god out there that if ever she had children of her own, that they wouldn't turn out to be as fussy as the star child was. Royalty or not, Hatsya had no excuse for such behavior. "Ok, then," she said, deciding to let the girl choose what she wanted, herself. "If not relish, what are you going to have on it?"

"Ummmm..." A long moment was taken for Hatsya to take a look at the line of choices she had available. "What's this?" she asked, pointing to a red bottle with a red circle on the label.

"That's ketchup. It's made from tomatoes."

As the sound of "tomatoes", the younger girl wrinkled her nose and pointed to a yellow bottle instead. "What's this?"

"Mild mustard and beside it is spicy mustard."

"This?"

"Chili."

"And this?"

"Sauerkraut." Kanoko sighed.

"What about this?"

"Diced onions."

"And-"

"YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS! IT'S CHEESE! SLICED CHEESE!" Kanoko screamed, whatever bit of patience she had left tossed out the window. Her hands flew up to her head and clutched desperately at her hair, an animalistic growl erupting from her belly. "Just pick something!" she ordered, thrusting the hot dog and bun at the now stunned star-child. Her lack of patience really wasn't Hatsya's fault, no, she enjoyed spending time with the young girl, but a hard day at work being nagged and tormented, insulted, and mocked by Radio Jack had been enough to drive even the most sane person up the wall.

"On second thought," Hatsya shrugged, her attention drifting, never settling on one thing for too long. "I'm not hungry." she decided, skipping merrily past the enraged brunette and into the entertainment room to throw herself on the couch and watch TV.


End file.
